This Week in Thirty-two

You know, according to OCWeekly.com's semi-reliable search engine, Matt Costa's been mentioned at least 31 times in our paper—and that's including one cover story, one feature story and one interview.

So let's make it 32: Huntington Beach's own Matt Costa is back in town with his acoustic guitar pleasantry for really pleasant people who like really, really pleasant music. The guy's been touring for practically two years straight at this point, hitting every major summer music festival you could possibly name, selling out shows all over North America and Europe, and making stops in South America and, most recently, Australia and Hawaii.

Costa's one of those increasingly quasi-famous word-of-mouth types of artists—the best kind. No hype, just talent. He'll be headlining the music portion of Saturday night's event at the OCMA, the Happening, brought to us by the creators of another Orange County event where art and music collide, the Moonshine Festival.

The Happening spans two nights in Newport Beach, featuring films by Thomas Campbell, Brian Lotti and the Malloys (who have directed music videos for the White Stripes, the Shins, Jack Johnson, the Raconteurs, and, yes, Matt Costa, too), including 1st & Hope, a film "about the old fashioned approach to street skating" that promises to "span generations"—all to a soundtrack provided by Beck. Great live music (including Beastie Boys producer and keyboardist Money Mark, Rocco Deluca & The Burden, Piers Faccini, Culver City Dub Collective and more) and, of course, plenty of art will be showcased.